


I'm Thinking, You and I

by KiiKitsune



Category: Vampire: The Masquerade
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-25 07:30:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7523926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiiKitsune/pseuds/KiiKitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Faye needs her car back and Millie needs to talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Thinking, You and I

Contrary to what the others seemed to think, businesses were not created and then left on their own to grow into flourishing money makers like algae on rocks. They required care, attention, and work— work Millicent had been neglecting in favour of attempting to manage their ramshackle coterie.

Sitting down at her bureau was a strange return to the norm. It had been a long, long time since she had been so thoroughly pulled away from her duties.

Millicent tapped the butt of her pen against the pile of project approvals she needed to sign.

A long time indeed. The circumstances were different of course, she had some measure of control here, but it still brought a tight feeling to her throat. Rubbing her neck absently with her free hand, she put the pen down and picked up her phone instead. The screen came to life and she flicked through her contacts. Her time with the coterie had been good for her contact list, if nothing else.

Her thumb hovered over ‘Faye’. It was hard to think of her now without her pretty, dark features contorted by anger and fear.

_-We should talk. I’ll drive you out to pick up your car.-_

Millicent put the phone on the edge of the desk and went back to her paperwork. Twenty minutes later it trilled with a message.

_-178 Sommer Street. You have 10 minutes or I’m taking a cab.-_

She huffed out a short burst of air through her nose. A demand in return for her favour? Apparently Faye wasn’t as wrecked as she could have been.

Gathering her things, Millicent went down to the car lot. The address Faye had given her wasn’t terribly far, and when she pulled up Faye pushed out of the glass doors of the building to meet her. Millicent flicked the lock open and Faye took her seat with arms crossed.

“Took you long enough.”

“Unfortunately my many talents don’t include traffic manipulation.”

The orange glow of the streetlamps highlighted the soft lines of Faye’s face, shadows catching around the edges of her scowl.

“You don’t need to be so tense,” Millicent said, eyes on the road, “There’s no one in the backseat to grab at your wrist tonight.”

Faye cut her a sharp look. “Do you like getting punched in the face? Is that why you spout so much crap?”

Millicent smiled benignly. “Better to take a hit and get to the heart of the matter than to cower and get nothing done. No one respects a coward.”

“No one respects a jerk either.”

They came to a stop at a red light and Millicent cast her hooded gaze on the other woman. “Oh, you’d be surprised. I respect you, after all.”

Faye glared, upper lip curling. “Somehow I doubt you truly respect anyone.”

“Maybe. But I am curious about you.” Millicent continued on, “Of all the people Mari could have chosen, she chose you. And then she put you aside. She said she wanted you to be a shining jewel in her crown, but what use is a jewel if it’s never polished and set on display? How stupid of her.”

“...Don’t you think you’ve disrespected enough Primogens in this city? Watch what you say.”

“Who’s going to tell her? It certainly won’t be you, given the way you can barely stop from peeing yourself when you see her.”

Faye did actually hit her that time. Perfectly manicured nails raked bloody lines across her cheek. Millicent took it and then turned her attention back to the road as the light became green and the car started moving again. The skin knit itself back together within seconds.

“It’s not just pretty words when I say I think you’re being wasted, Faye.” They crossed the bridge over into the shopping district. “The way vampire society works doesn’t suit either of us. We shouldn’t be bottom of the barrel, and we shouldn’t be lumped in with dangerously unreliable street trash like Three.”

At the mention of Three, Faye’s fingers tightened into fists. It didn’t go unnoticed.

Millicent kept going. “Letting ourselves be pushed into a coterie with him and the others is bad enough. But even in coteries there should be a hierarchy. You and I? We have clear minds and enough sense to know what to do with ourselves in a conversation. If we let the rest of them run wild… well, you know what happened. It will only be worse the longer we go without proper order.”

“Not that I disagree with you, but why are you telling me this? Is this the same pitch you’ll give to everyone in the group? Have us all think we’re special so we turn against each other and forget about you pulling our strings? Not interested.”

“I thought about doing something like that,” Millicent hums, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. “But that was before Three changed everything.”

“So you can’t manipulate him like you’d hoped. I don’t see how that would really force you to change your plans for the rest of us.”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed how tenuous the binding of our coterie is. None of us have a reason to be together except for the fact that this world eats loners alive. But at the same time, being a group of loners just puts us in more danger as we have to take responsibility for the individual actions of everyone in the group. Without structure we have no way of regulating individual actions. As much as I hate to admit it, I haven’t been able to persuade everyone to see sense on my own.” Millicent frowned. “You and I? We have the most in common, and you’re the most reasonable of the bunch. I really have no other choice if I want to make this coterie into something beneficial.”

“Ah, well, I’m flattered to be your last resort.” Faye’s sarcasm was biting.

They rolled to a stop behind Faye’s car, just down the street from Millicent’s rental home. The porch had been crossed over with police tape, the front door still hanging loose on its hinges. They both stared at it.

Faye went to open the door but Millicent reached out and caught her wrist. The same one Three had grabbed. Faye rounded on her, teeth bared. “Don’t touch me!”

Millicent tilted her head, loosening her grip but keeping her fingers circled around the thin bones.

“We’ve been disorganized, constantly running after the messes made by one coterie member or another, forced to make decisions with no proper thought behind them. We’ve been too weak, too scared to take real control.” Millicent’s voice was soft, quieter than it had been before, as her eyes flicked between the house and Faye. “Think about the consequences of that cowardice, and call me back when you’re ready to do something about it.”

The second Millicent released her hold, Faye was gone in a burst of celerity, the car door slamming shut behind her. Millicent waited until Faye’s car had taken off around the corner before restarting her own.


End file.
